Taiwan should remain cautious as it opens up its borders for the first time to “free independent travelers” (FIT) from China, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
Up to 500 individual Chinese tourists a day will be allowed to travel to Taiwan starting later this month. Currently, Chinese tourists are only allowed in to the country as part of tour groups, subject to more regulations.
The Chinese FITs, who must be at least 18 and come from Beijing, Shanghai or Xiamen, will be required to show their finances or their educational status if they are students, before being issued entry permits.
Even with government approval, applicants must still register relatives as a form of “guarantor,” while travel agencies will also be held liable for any Chinese tourists who end up illegally overstaying their permit.
However, research from the DPP policy committee shows that the government will have little ability to act on the Chinese guarantors, without firm regulations on whether any potential fines can be levied and how they can be collected.
“How will our government even perform any sort of background check on these relative ‘guarantors?’” DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) asked.
“And without these checks, how can we ensure our national security?” Chen added.
The DPP has suggested that the individual Chinese tourists be made to pay a deposit before being allowed to travel to Taiwan.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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